ydeardorff
New member
I know many of us, just go with the status quo' on many things.*thumbs up* Some of us dont.*thumbs up*
I have have often wondered why as kit car owners, many of us havent looked to what the big manufacturing companies have done and try to emulate them. After all they spent a fortune getting it right, why not reap the rewards of the internet, and their stupidity of posting the technical info out there for us to grab.
First of all, ALL companies mount their seats with the back or hip of the seat lower than the front. They also pay very close attention to the relationship of the seating angle, the pedal to the feet, and the steering wheel to all the other parts so a human being can climb in, and everything falls into place naturally.
Yet we, still to this day lower our pans in a square box similar to that of a bathtub bolted to the bottom of the chassis. Why?
We have a road car not a formula one car.
This seating style might seem cool looking, but might offer a very uncomfortable ride quality on bumpy city roads, and be difficult to get in and out of. But this is very similar to what we end up giving ourselves in these box drops. In this case the drivers feet are nearly as high as his heart. This would not be comfortable for very long.
We need something more realistic for our beloved bug chassis. Something that will mount the seat directly to the pan floor, but at the right angle and effective drop. Then, we need the front of the pan to drop down and away from the front of the seat in a way that would allow for modern top mounted pedals, and be in a natural position so that using those pedals flows with our natural movements.
Here are some examples of a Lamborghini Diablo chassis. Pay close attention to the floor shape.
See the two dropped areas, and the center raised area (under your knee).
The red circle is denoting where the base and front of the seat would mount, and the angle that the base of the seat would be sitting on. The flat spot to the right or rear of that would be the rear seat mounting point.
The yellow circle shows the pedal area, which as I mentioned is lowered for ergonomics so that the pedals are at a natural position and height. Mounting them from the top makes them push down and away from your foot, rather than up and away which is a less natural movement in a seated position.
So what is this long winded thread about? Rethinking the status quo. Not accepting an uncomfortable or quirky design, when it can be made a little bit better. This idea isnt rocket science, its simply rethinking this old idea. If you like things as they are, good keep your car as you see fit. But if you want things a little bit better. Perhaps this idea might be a way to start.
If you think about how you sit down in your house, whether its the couch, or a chair. Your body comfortably sits a certain way. Now sit on the floor, and lean way back with a couple pillows behind you. This is far less comfortable. In a moving vehicle where your comfort and mechanical advantage on the controls are of importance, getting the seating position right can make all the difference.
The lamborghini floor pan is the basic idea that we can run with. And in fact, having multiple angles across the base of the pan will make it even stiffer.
Anyway, take from this what you want. The automakers out there have the budgets, they do the work, if we pay attention, we can reap the rewards for all their hard work, if we pay attention.
I have have often wondered why as kit car owners, many of us havent looked to what the big manufacturing companies have done and try to emulate them. After all they spent a fortune getting it right, why not reap the rewards of the internet, and their stupidity of posting the technical info out there for us to grab.
First of all, ALL companies mount their seats with the back or hip of the seat lower than the front. They also pay very close attention to the relationship of the seating angle, the pedal to the feet, and the steering wheel to all the other parts so a human being can climb in, and everything falls into place naturally.
Yet we, still to this day lower our pans in a square box similar to that of a bathtub bolted to the bottom of the chassis. Why?
We have a road car not a formula one car.
This seating style might seem cool looking, but might offer a very uncomfortable ride quality on bumpy city roads, and be difficult to get in and out of. But this is very similar to what we end up giving ourselves in these box drops. In this case the drivers feet are nearly as high as his heart. This would not be comfortable for very long.
We need something more realistic for our beloved bug chassis. Something that will mount the seat directly to the pan floor, but at the right angle and effective drop. Then, we need the front of the pan to drop down and away from the front of the seat in a way that would allow for modern top mounted pedals, and be in a natural position so that using those pedals flows with our natural movements.
Here are some examples of a Lamborghini Diablo chassis. Pay close attention to the floor shape.
See the two dropped areas, and the center raised area (under your knee).
The red circle is denoting where the base and front of the seat would mount, and the angle that the base of the seat would be sitting on. The flat spot to the right or rear of that would be the rear seat mounting point.
The yellow circle shows the pedal area, which as I mentioned is lowered for ergonomics so that the pedals are at a natural position and height. Mounting them from the top makes them push down and away from your foot, rather than up and away which is a less natural movement in a seated position.
So what is this long winded thread about? Rethinking the status quo. Not accepting an uncomfortable or quirky design, when it can be made a little bit better. This idea isnt rocket science, its simply rethinking this old idea. If you like things as they are, good keep your car as you see fit. But if you want things a little bit better. Perhaps this idea might be a way to start.
If you think about how you sit down in your house, whether its the couch, or a chair. Your body comfortably sits a certain way. Now sit on the floor, and lean way back with a couple pillows behind you. This is far less comfortable. In a moving vehicle where your comfort and mechanical advantage on the controls are of importance, getting the seating position right can make all the difference.
The lamborghini floor pan is the basic idea that we can run with. And in fact, having multiple angles across the base of the pan will make it even stiffer.
Anyway, take from this what you want. The automakers out there have the budgets, they do the work, if we pay attention, we can reap the rewards for all their hard work, if we pay attention.
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You need to drop your pan more and go full length. It makes a world of difference in getting in and out. Talk with Nic.. he's your height. And I know a guy in Michigan who is that tall.. he simply made seats that, while fixed, were against the rear bulkhead. On a Bug chassis, you will never get the ergonomics of a car that was built and designed to be ergonomically "better". There simply isn't the room to do it correctly, unless you start with a tube chassis of course.
